Sunday 21 February 2016

Raising the roof

Getting the roof on
February 2016

The walls went up in a rare gap in the run of storms we have been having, but now our luck ran out.



Following the installation of the steel work we were hit by a mega storm, with winds of over 60 mph howling through the skeleton of the extension. The wind found its way into the house but worse was the rain. All that clomping around on an already weak roof resulted in a whole bunch of leaks.



Buckets were just not man for the job so in a moment of inspiration I hooked a gutter across the kitchen and out of the window, carrying 90% of the water away. Fut plenty still found its way in rendering the old kitchen nearly uninhabitable.



But finally the rain stopped, the lake above us drained away and the chippies arrived, first building a substantial frame including the base of the 3m x 2m lantern. That was covered with a layer of ply with about 4inches of fall, then 10cm of Celotex to keep us all snug and warm.



Another pause and then the contractors for the GRP waterproofing layer. To my mind GRP is the only way to go. The one sure thing about a built up felt roof is he fact that, one day, it will leak. So it may cost twice as much but we specified a GRP roof which involved another timber layer which was covered in multiple layers of fibreglass and resin topped over with a thick layer of non slip bitumen.



The and result is a warm and weatherproof roof which carries a 25 years guarantee.

Of course, we still have our oculus in the the middle but this will have a temporary covering whilst the lantern is built and fitted.

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